Saturday, January 23, 2010

Week 2 - New Activity


The Bolins love sushi. Sometimes we're out of control and consume ridiculous quantities of this magical food. It's one of our favs. Prior to last night, we had never actually MADE our own, so this week's new activity was sushi making.

It was a very involved process, even though the websites and cookbooks make it look so easy! We purchased a bamboo mat and spoon so that we could have an authentic sushi rolling experience - all this really did for us was make us feel a tiny bit cooler. We wish we'd had some sweet headbands to top off the project. The kitchen was a MESS by the time we actually got to the rolling portion. Mr. Bolin was fantastic about helping out here. :) Special thanks to our dear friend Sarah who did a fab job with the veggies. Oh, and brosef Shawn enjoyed the fruits of our labor and was very generous with the compliments.

The menu ended up consisting of the following:
  • Miso Soup
  • Edamame
  • Tuna rolls
  • Shrimp rolls
  • Smoked salmon rolls (side note - apparently no one in Omaha carries sushi-grade salmon so we had to go with smoked)
  • Saki and Japanese beer
Everything was delicioso. I had a blast (so I'm easily amused). When I finally made the perfect roll, you would have thought I had produced some incredible piece of art. No, just sushi, but it was awesome.

This week's Bolin Adventure was fun. It definitely gave us a new appreciation for the sushi masters at the fab Sushi Japan.

Bolin Awesomeness Rating: B B B B B




Sunday, January 17, 2010

Week 1


2 New Places: Midtown Cinema and Brix

We wanted to make up for some lost time this week, so we checked out TWO places.

First: Midtown Cinema

The concept for this theater is that you have dinner WHILE you watch your movie. Genius, we thought. It was interesting.

Upon entering the theater, we wondered if the DeLorean had transported us back to 1990. The chairs were a strange red pleather. The "tables" were an odd laminate with oak accents. It screamed 90's decor. Still, we loved the concept. We ordered dinner and drinks, and then waited....and waited some more. Finally we see a tray that looks like our order, yet the employee starts handing it to a group next to us. They realized it wasn't theirs, and handed the food back. With what had just transpired, we thought the food would be another 15 or so minutes. Oh, no. The employee re-enters the theater within seconds and brings us the same tray of food. I respectfully informed him I saw him hand the food to other customers, and that I'd like to have a new plate. His response: I think they're still fine. WHAT?!?

Needless to say, the food experience - not great. The movie (Up In the Air) was FAB, and I highly recommend it. By the way, the slogan for this theater is "Creating Magical Movie Memories". Oh we have memories all right, just not magical ones.

Shannon's Bolin Awesomeness Rating: B B B B B
Luke's Bolin Awesomeness Rating: B B B B B


















Next new adventure: Brix

We're just learning about wine, and are far from experts. Brix is a wine-lovers dream. They have wine from all over the world, and friendly staff who will assist you in your quest to learn more. Although their main retail area is open, which does include a wine bar, the lounge area is not yet complete. The lounge is what we were hoping to check out in this adventure, so we were sad. We did get to try some great wine, so all in all, the evening was still enjoyable. We look forward to revisiting Brix when the lounge area is open.

Bolin Awesomeness Rating: B B B B B (this place has real potential)

Saturday, January 16, 2010

2010 - The year of trying new things

Luke and I decided that our lives are a bit on the boring side. Work, dinner, maybe some t.v., and repeat the next day. Throw a trip to the gym in there, and you've got Monday through Friday at the Bolin house. Yawn.

Well, it's the dawning of a new day. We may be a little late with the New Year's Resolutions, given it's two weeks in to the new year, but better late than never. So, we've decided to do or try something or someplace new once a week for the entire year. Looks like we've got 50 things to hammer out. Each week we will post a pic (maybe even a review if we're feeling crazy) of the week's new activity. Keep in mind, we live in Omaha, NE, so we may need to be creative some weeks.

And so begins the Bolin Adventures. Here's to a fab 2010!